Droid Weekend Sales Top 100,000, Says Analyst

Share

Droid Weekend Sales Top 100,000, Says Analyst

Motorola's Droid phone may not be an iPhone-sized hit yet, but it is flying off the shelves.

More than 100,000 Droid phones were sold in the first weekend since the device's launch, estimates Mark McKechnie, an analyst with Broadpoint AmTech. That's about half of the initial stock made available to Verizon and Best Buy stores nationwide.

"Demand seems brisk," says McKechnie. "While we heard of no stores that were completely sold out, the majority reported that more than half of the initial stock was sold, and some said they had just a few remaining."

Motorola Droid, available currently on Verizon Wireless, went on sale Nov. 6. The phone costs $200 with a $100 mail-in rebate (available instantly at Best Buy stores) and a two-year contract.

The Droid, which runs Google's latest Android 2.0 operating system debuted to excellent reviews as experts appreciated the phone's crisp screen, easy user interface and turn-by-turn navigation feature. But the device's difficult-to-use physical keyboard and smaller app store are seen as drawbacks.

Still, the Droid could put Motorola back into the game though it has a long way to go before it can catch up with Apple. Motorola could sell 1.3 million Android phones in the fourth quarter, estimates Citigroup research analyst Jim Suva. That compares to about 8 million iPhones that Apple will sell in the quarter.